A group of US Airlines is teaming up against American, Delta, and United

The dispute between America's three largest domestic
airlines — American, Delta, and United — and the Middle Eastern
trio of Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways just got more
complicated.

A coalition of four US airlines— JetBlue, Hawaiian, Atlas,
and FedEX — have spoken out against a request from the legacy
carriers, which they refer as the "Big 3," to renegotiate
America's respective Open Skies agrements with the UAE and
Qatar.

The alliance — known as "US Airlines for Open Skies" (USAOS) —
submitted a letter on Monday to the US Government detailing the
harm that could be done to their respective businesses,
consumers, and the US economy should the government comply with
the wishes of the Big 3.

"The Big 3 do not speak for all, or even most, U.S.
airlines," Hawaiian CEO and President Mark Dunkerley said in a
statement.

"Our coalition believes that the United States should honor
its Open Skies commitments, which opens markets for U.S.
carriers, promotes competition on international and domestic
routes, and facilitates U.S. exports."

In the letter, which was addressed to the secretaries of State,
Commerce, and Transportation, USAOS stated its belief
that any restrictions placed on the Open Skies agreements with
the UAE and Qatar would constitute a violation of the agreement
itself.

USAOS also point out that there could be political and national
security consequences to restrictions placed Middle Eastern
airlines.

"The unilateral actions demanded by the Big 3
likely would provoke retaliation by the UAE and Qatar, encourage
other Open Skies partners to take restrictive actions, deter
countries from entering into Open Skies agreements with the
United States, and raise questions about the United States’
commitment to the Open Skies regime," USAOS wrote in the
letter.

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marksontok

This is crucial for major cargo carriers such as FedEX and Atlas
— both of which have significant operations in the Middle East.

According to the coalition, both Atlas and FedEX operate support
flights for US military operations in the Middle East.

While the large legacy carriers use their own interational
flights to feed domestic routes, smaller airlines such as JetBlue
and Hawaiian credit the growing presence of international
airlines such as the Middle Eastern three with increasing traffic
for their domestic services.

In fact, JetBlue believes the Big 3's goal is to roll back the
clock on the airline business.

"JetBlue is not unfamiliar with efforts from the legacy carriers
to stifle competition" JetBlue general counsel James Hnat said on
a conference call with the media.

"Legacy carriers are trying to protect themselves ... Open Skies
is good for trade, economic growth and politics."

AP

Furthermore, USAOS claimed that increased competition in the
airline industry through Open Skies
agreements will "generate approximately $4 billion in annual
savings for passengers on U.S.-international routes."

USAOS also dimissed United, American, and
Delta's claims that 800 airline jobs will be lost for every route
they lose to a Middle Eastern airline.

"The threat of job loss is just a
distraction from the whole picture," Hnat said during the call.
"There are other jobs to be created. It’s a just political
distraction."

The Big 3 haven't taken today's announcement without comment. In
a swift response, the Partnership for Fair and Open Skies —
the lobbying group representing United, Delta, and American —
didn't mince words about the formation of the USAOS.

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Commons

"This is a meaningless coalition without a cause," Partnership
for Fair and Open Skies spokesperson Jill Zuckman said in a
statement to Business Insider. "The only risk to our Open Skies
agreements is the Gulf carriers themselves and their massive,
market-distorting government subsidies. Of the 117 Open Skies
agreements with the United States, 115 are working beautifully."

Obviously, this is a dispute that's not going away anytime
soon, and today's entry of a third party has added an extra
wrinkle to the story. Stay tuned for more action.